What the reaction to Trump’s ‘affair’ with Stormy Daniels tells us about US attitudes to sex
Robert Delaney says whether Americans are learning to keep the personal out of the political, or Republicans are practising blatant double standards on marital fidelity, Trump has maintained steady approval ratings during rumours of his alleged affair
There’s a history of marital indiscretion among many occupants of the Oval Office. Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Warren G. Harding …
Estimates compiled by The Washington Post several years ago “find married men cheating at rates between 25 per cent and 72 per cent. Given that many people are loath to admit that they cheat, research on cheating may underestimate its prevalence. But it appears that cheating is as common as fidelity.”
Sleeping around with sexually objectified women would not be inconsistent with what everyone in the US knows about Trump, opponents and supporters alike. Trump has cultivated his image as a playboy for decades. Therefore, what might seem like bombshell revelations in the matter of Stormy Daniels are really just firecrackers.
On the road with stripper Stormy Daniels, where porn and presidential politics collide
Journalists working to dig up dirt about Trump’s extramarital activities need to know that the details will only serve to titillate Americans of all political orientations. They aren’t likely to sink Trump’s ship.
This being the case, public servants in positions all the way up to the White House should not need to worry about their sexual past coming to light, unless of course their histories include incidents that were not consensual or otherwise in violation of legal statutes.
So the lack of public outrage against Trump in the Stormy Daniels case shows a measure of progressive sociological evolution in the US, right?
Archbishop of Canterbury is ‘genuinely’ baffled by US Christians who support Trump
Well, no. The US religious right, which is a key component of Trump’s supporters, have simply averted their eyes from the headlines to avoid any confrontation with their collective conscience.
Trump is their man. In particular, he is the one who can be counted on to fill the federal courts and the Supreme Court with conservative justices, regardless of whose bedroom bureau he’s leaving a wad of cash on.
Ex-Playboy model sues so she can publicly discuss ‘affair with Donald Trump’
“This is an issue between President Trump and God,” conservative political commentator and former Republican Senator Rick Santorum said on CNN last week when grilled about why the Christian right in the US is not reacting to allegations from women claiming to have had sex with a married Donald Trump.
Why is Omarosa scared of a Pence presidency? ‘He thinks Jesus tells him to say things’
Pence’s social boundaries speak volumes about his position on infidelity. He has proudly declared that any aides working late with him must be male, he will not dine alone with a woman other than his wife Karen and will not attend an event where alcohol is served unless Karen is present.
Neither the US religious right nor the Republicans have a monopoly on hypocrisy, of course.
Robert Delaney is a US correspondent for the Post based in New York
